


a date

by civillove



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 15:42:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3815917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/civillove/pseuds/civillove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt by the lovely anisstaranise “Barry keeps trying to organize the perfect date with Caitlin but every time their evening starts, there’s a meta threat.” | bit AU, you’ll know it when you see it | NC-17<br/>--<br/>She raises an eyebrow, letting out a slow breath. “Ohh, a date, hmm?”<br/>Barry wraps his arms around her waist, his fingers lacing loosely together on her lower back. “Yeah, like a real one where we aren’t interrupted by metahumans trying to kill us.”<br/>“Ah. We should probably avoid days ending in ‘Y’.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	a date

The thing about Barry is that he’s old fashioned.

Iris constantly jokes that he’s got the soul of some eighty year old or that he actually belongs as a dapper fellow in the 1940’s. Caitlin always giggles and hides her smile in her hand as Barry blushes a dark pink but his best friend isn’t actually that far off.

It’s the little things she’s noticed about him, even though they’ve only been dating for a short amount of time. He likes holding doors open for her, goes out of his way to do so, he pays for her coffee, for lunch if they find time to go out, he walks her up to her apartment door and kisses her gently before saying goodnight. He waits until he hears the door lock behind him. She’s found him reaching for her hand if she’s walking up a hill in heels or making sure she always has an umbrella if there’s a heavy downpour outside. He always comes when she calls. They’re small things, but small things always have a tendency of adding up into something more.

Barry sticks up for her, protects her, in and out of his mask.

It’s not that he doesn’t think women can’t hold their own or take care of themselves; he’s grown up around _Iris,_ one of the strongest women Caitlin has ever known. And even though she herself has had a few metahumans sneak up on her, using her to get under the Flash’s skin by any means necessary, she’s pretty confident in being able to handle herself when it counts. That’s the thing, Barry _knows_ that about the women in his life but he likes being there for them anyways.

He’s sweet and warm and his touch is tender and welcoming.

And Caitlin loves that about him. She doesn’t feel like she needs to be impressed by fancy dinners, or flowers and chocolate from Italy (because Barry can do that sort of thing, obviously) but…Barry being thoughtful, concerned, there for her? She does need that, as it turns out.

She needs him in ways she’s never realized she did.

000

It turns out dating Barry is a lot easier than she thought. It’s not like she expected some sort of ground breaking change in the universe or for the earth to tilt off it’s axis but she thought she’d feel…something shift between them.

She likes that it hasn’t. Barry is her constant, the thing that stands still and steady; that grounds her. Even when it feels like the floor might shatter beneath her and open wide to swallow her whole, pull her down into a darkness that’s infinite.

No, being with him is easy. Like breathing. In and out, oxygen pinking her lungs. Not a lot has changed between them even though there’s small pinpricks of differences. They’re not _just_ friends anymore; there’s a spark between them that’s been tended to. Their kisses are slow and soft, sometimes intimate and incredibly heated, like the spark they’ve nurtured burns bright with high flames. Barry’s touch is possessive, Caitlin’s light and caring, absentminded sometimes when she runs her fingers through his hair or swipes her thumb across his cheekbone.

But at the same time, he’s still Barry and she’s still Caitlin. They’re still partners in crime, they tackle metahuman messes together, solve puzzles, get cups of coffee at Jitters, play Operation even though she still hasn’t gotten any better at it (stupid tiny pieces of plastic), and go to Karaoke bars (regardless that Cisco has told them to stop with a wince). Caitlin pouts that she’s not _that_ bad of a singer. Barry just kisses her.

So even though nothing has really changed between them _everything_ is different. It’s hard to explain into words because it’s just something that she _feels._ She’s not used to not being able to explain something with a scientific theory, a definition of facts, or a support of mathematical numbers.

Caitlin sighs softly before powering down her laptop, standing in her lab to start putting away vials and samples and papers of research for the serum she created to stop the Everyday Man from shifting into anyone else. At least for a small period of time. She feels a shiver course down her spine; she’s just glad they can consider this issue done and over with, the metahuman locked up tight where she…he, it? belongs.

She still feels silly about not realizing that Barry wasn’t in fact…Barry. _Actually_ she’s pretty sure if fake Barry hadn’t tried to kiss her she wouldn’t have figured it out.

_“Are you sure you’re okay?” Barry asks as they walk through his front door. Joe must be in the kitchen putting a pot of coffee on, she can smell the beans, a burnt dark roast._

_Caitlin nods, giving him a soft smile as the door closes behind them. “I’m fine. I just…I should have known that wasn’t you.”_

_Barry shrugs his one shoulder, helping her take her coat off. “It was an honest mistake. It’s not your fault, this metahuman dedicated its life to being other people, assuming their identities. It was good at it.”_

_She’s quiet for a moment as Barry hangs up her coat, crossing her arms over her chest as he approaches her. She’s been a bit jumpy lately, she knows this, his movements are careful and calm. He doesn’t want to scare her._

_What Barry doesn’t seem to get is that she’s not afraid of him. His hands eventually fall to her shoulders, squeezing gently, thumbs pressing into her muscle to try and relax her._

_“I just…hate the idea of that guy’s hands all over you.” He mumbles under his breath, eyes raking over her form like might find something off about her that he missed before._

_“It’s not like he interpreted our relationship the wrong way.” She says, smiling up at him as her arms fall to her sides, no longer creating a barrier between them. She leans into his chest.  “And technically it was just his lips.” Caitlin teases with a soft crinkle to her nose._

_Barry smirks and shakes his head. “How’d you figure it out it wasn’t me?”_

_Caitlin’s eyes fall to his lips, her hand moving to cup his jawline, thumb brushing over his lower lip. “I know what your kiss feels like,” She whispers. “And his wasn’t even close in comparison.”_

_He smiles a little, eyes gentle, arms winding around her to pull her close. He says nothing. But he does kiss her._

Caitlin feels his presence before she actually sees him, the gust of wind that tends to follow in his wake yanks the papers from her hands and scatters them all over the floor. She jumps as a knee-jerk reaction, turning to look over her shoulder at a sheepish looking Barry.

“You’d think I’d get used to that with how often you do it.”

He smiles and picks her papers off the floor, waiting until she stands up to gently fix her windblown hair. Barry adjusts a random flyaway strand and tucks it behind her ear with an amused chuckle, Caitlin rolling her eyes as her one hand falls to his wrist.

“I thought you were supposed to be gone a few hours ago.” He says, looking around her lab for a moment. Barry had left hours ago to join Joe at the police station for some mundane police work, crime scene samples, paperwork. Cisco was currently home and Dr. Wells….well, who knew what he was up to these days.

She pointedly decides not to think about it.

“I was just cleaning up, I hadn’t had the chance the other night.” She pulls away from him reluctantly and files her papers away accordingly, shutting the drawer of her desk.

Barry hums, his long limbs sitting on the edge of her desk as he watches her grab her raincoat and slip it on. Her heels click noisily against the tile floor, the sound following her as she moves to stand directly in front of him. His legs open slightly to accommodate her body, and she slips between them until they’re breathing in the same air.

“Did you eat lunch today?” Barry asks, ever the worrier. He knows that sometimes she gets buried so far and deep under her work that no matter how small or insignificant the tasks, it’s hard to crawl back up and detangle her limbs free from her lab . To remind herself that she needs to stop and sleep, or that she needs to live off something that isn’t just coffee transfusions.

Caitlin gives him a look, a raised eyebrow as her hands fall onto his shoulders. “Are you saying you want to cook me dinner?”

Barry laughs, his whole body buzzes with it, warm to the touch. It’s contagious and seems to flow from the tips of his fingers as he brushes her hair over her shoulder. “You _really_ don’t want to see me in the kitchen. I can’t cook to save my life. Unless it comes in a box with directions,” He scrunches his nose. “Even then…”

“Is this anything like ‘I can’t dance’ or ‘I can’t sing’ because we both know how _those_ two things turned out.” She states, her hands squeezing his shoulders, one thumb rubbing his collarbone.

Her eyes flutter over the soft features of his face, their proximity allowing her to see the gold flecks in his emerald green eyes or the gentle freckles littering his cheekbones.

He shakes his head, a grin teasing the corners of his mouth. “I’m not offering to cook you dinner. But I _am_ offering to take you out on a date.”

She raises an eyebrow, letting out a slow breath. “Ohh, a date, hmm?”

Barry wraps his arms around her waist, his fingers lacing loosely together on her lower back. “Yeah, like a real one where we aren’t interrupted by metahumans trying to kill us.”

“Ah. We should probably avoid days ending in ‘Y’.” She laughs softly, her arms moving to rest were her hands were, fingers playing his hair by the nape of his neck.

He dips his head forward with a soft sigh, their foreheads brushing. “I know timing isn’t exactly the best but…people who date one another _are_ supposed to actually go out on dates.”

She lets out a slow breath as she considers, eyes traveling over Barry’s face. Caitlin dips her chin and presses a kiss to his lips, chaste and soft, a brushing of skin if anything. But he’s smiling when she pulls away. These dates aren’t extremely important to her; she has Barry, in every official way that means something. But going out on these so called dates obviously mean something to him.

_String bean with the soul of an eighty year old chivalrous man_ she thinks to herself with an affectionate inward eyeroll.

“Fine,” Caitlin agrees after a few moments, pulling back from him so he can stand from her desk. “Another night when I’m not exhausted?”

Barry nods with a soft ‘mhm’, his hand falling to his side, open, ready for hers. She’s drawn to him like a magnet, their hands pressing together, fingers linking loosely like intertwined lace. “Any night you want… but preferably soon and not in the middle of another Central city crisis.”

She giggles as she grabs her purse, turning the lights off to her lab before following him out the doorway. “I’ll try my best.”

000

Barry sets up three consecutive dates. Or he tries to. And she assumes that each one would have been equally amazing if they had managed to make it through any of them. The minute the date seems to start is the minute it ends because something is always getting in the way—she’s happy she doesn’t exactly believe in the concept of fates or destiny because after the third time it sort of feels like the universe is smacking them in the faces.

Apparently Barry does not get to do normal things like take his girlfriend out on dates.

The first time it’s just a simple dinner, Barry doesn’t cook because Joe is pretty sure he’ll set most of the kitchen on fire but Iris helps and by the time Caitlin arrives everything is perfect; the homemade ravioli are amazing, the wine is picked and poured and he has pie in the oven (and no kitchen utensils have suffered any casualties).

He’s tugging her close, his hand sliding down her back in a simple black dress and suddenly he isn’t really hungry anymore. He just wants to kiss her, so he does.

She smiles into it, her fingers playing with the soft fabric of his dress shirt before pulling back. “Hi.” Caitlin looks to the dining room table, set with his mother’s china and delicious smelling food. “I’m assuming I have Iris to thank for this?”

Barry blushes a dark pink that’s nearly hidden by the candle-light dimness of the room. Nearly. “I followed directions.”

“My hero.” She teases, pressing a few kisses along the blush on his cheek before pulling back. Caitlin’s a second away from picking up her glass of wine to take a sip when Barry’s cell phone starts chirping.

Barry opens his mouth to say something but then Caitlin’s starts vibrating too from inside her clutch. They share a disgruntled look and reluctantly answer at the same time.

Emergency. STAR Labs.

The Flash successfully puts another metahuman who can turn anything he wants into _snow_ of all things (there were too many Kris Kringle and abominable snowman jokes flown around by Cisco with this one) into the holding cells of the particle accelerator. But not before Caitlin gets blasted by a blister of snow flurries.

He can’t seem to keep her warm until they make it back to his place, the dinner cold just like his girlfriend. They take a hot shower and he pulls her close for the rest of the night but his slightly elevated temperature does little to stop her shivers.

“If you make one more Ice Queen joke I’m going to knee you where it hurts.” Caitlin warns as he smirks and tucks her under his chin, his hand working soothing circles into her spine.

She has on a pair of his sweatpants and sweatshirt, the material long and swallowing her whole. There’s a cup of rapidly cooling coffee on the nightstand and he’s wrapped her in a few blankets as they lay in bed.

Her nose is like a mini ice cube as she presses it into his neck but he doesn’t mind. “Calm down, Elsa— _ow!”_ He looks down at her as she elbows him in the ribs, scrunching his nose at the smile tugging at her lips. “For real?”

“I warned you.” She mumbles as she closes her eyes, allowing the warmth of Barry’s body to lull her to sleep.

Not surprising at all, Caitlin catches a cold a few days later. It’s nasty but she still somehow manages to make it to work. He’d admire her dedication if she wasn’t sneezing so hard she felt lightheaded. So he zips her back to her apartment each time he finds her in her lab with a box of tissues on her lap.

She’s miserable but at least Barry’s there to make her soup. From a can.

000

The second date Barry tries to do something spontaneous, work has been slow on both fronts and he figures now is the time to do something fun before his next obligation hits. It also makes a huge difference in the fact that he can literally _run_ him and Caitlin where they need to go in the blink of an eye and be back in case anything happens.

But nothing is going to happen; he’s taking advantage of the downtime and not to sound over confident but the odds _are_ in their favor. At least that’s what he’s hoping for when he blindfolds Caitlin outside of STAR labs and zips her to Pittsburgh for the day.

“You know that felt like a kidnapping, right?” Caitlin teases as soon as they stop moving and Barry sets her on the ground again. She moves to take the blindfold off but his warm hand covers hers.

“No peaking.” He smiles, pressing a kiss to her jaw. “And it was kidnapping, sort of. I want to,” Barry moves behind her and gently puts his hands on the back of her shoulders, encouraging her to move forward. “introduce you to date number two.”

“Technically it’s date number one, take two.”

Barry shakes his head with a soft laugh that brushes against the outside of her ear. Caitlin strains her senses to try and figure out where they are; it smells like earth, a bit damp even though the sun is warm on her face, her ears pick up slight vibrations of children laughing and strollers, breeze tickling her neck.

“Where are we?”

Barry kisses the back of her head before taking the blindfold off. Caitlin blinks a few times before squinting at a sign shaped like a sea otter nearby—‘Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium’—her heart contracts violently in her chest, her mouth opening and closing.

“This is the one right?” Barry asks nervously as he stands by, playing with the fabric of the handkerchief between his fingers. “The one you were talking about a few weeks ago? You said your grandfather used to bring you here when you came to visit him.”

“No this,” Caitlin says after a few moments, her voice tight. “This is it.”

He watches her for a few moments, his hand moving to trace down her back. He misconstrues her silence for something else and instantly worries that he made the wrong choice, that he’s upset her somehow. Barry thought for _sure_ this would have been a good surprise; Caitlin’s grandfather has been dead for a long time now but she talks about him fondly sometimes, about their trips to the aquarium together, how she considered becoming a marine biologist for the longest time because of those trips.

Time spent that she’d never get back or replicate again.

She’s always talked about _this_ aquarium, how she hasn’t been back since he died, how it’s hard for her to remember the last time she was here with him.

“I’m…I’m sorry, I—” He starts tripping over his words but she turns around to face him, shaking her head as she bites down on her lower lip. She’s trying to stop herself from crying but a tear slips past her cheek anyways.

“This is _perfect.”_ She says and she’s _smiling._ Bright and perfect up at him that he lets out a long breath out of his lungs, anxiety disappearing into the air. Barry cups her cheek and wipes away the tear track, letting his fingers wrap around the back of her neck so he can pull her into his chest.

He brushes a kiss over her forehead, her hands holding onto his sides and squeezing before they part from one another.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—” She sniffles, her hand falling onto Barry’s wrist of the hand that is still somewhat on her cheek. A soft laugh leaves his lips and he shakes his head, thumb tracing across her cheekbone.

“Don’t be, for a minute I just thought I had the wrong aquarium,” He pulls back and settles his arm across her shoulders, allowing her body to melt into his side as they start towards the entrance. “Or that you really didn’t like sea otters.”

Caitlin laughs, looking up at him. Her cheeks are a bit pinker from crying and he resists the urge to kiss them both and settles for giving his attention on paying for their tickets instead. “Sea otters are actually one of my favorite animals.”

“Oh really?” He grins, walking towards the outside escalator with her that will take them to the entrance of the zoo. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

\--

They’ve just made it into the bottom of the aquarium when his phone rings. He doesn’t hear it at first, part of him convinced it’s someone else’s with how packed with people it is, even in an off season. Barry glances over at Caitlin, the high wall to ceiling glass around them filled with a variety of sea life reflecting a soft blue-green reflective hue against her skin. As gorgeous as she is, he almost doesn’t like it; it makes her skin look cold and artificial.

He loves the light pink that dusts her cheeks after he makes her laugh, the flush that crawls down her neck after they’re naked and sated, sweat kissing skin, the soft blush that’s there on her skin all day but especially after they kiss.

A lot of people think she’s cold to the touch with her calculated and icy closed off demeanor but that’s not who she is at all and he’s glad he’s taken the time to figure that out.

Barry frowns as he hears a phone start to ring again and this time he knows it’s his. He lets Caitlin pull away from his gentle grasp on his hand to look at jellyfish while he answers the phone. Of course it’s Cisco. Of course there’s another threat to Central City, apparently this metahuman can control bugs. Not robotized bees this time…honest to God _bugs._ He’s not sure whether he wants to go back to that or not.

He loves his job, he _loves_ being the Flash—but the wonder and contentment on Caitlin’s face over something as simple as jellyfish…he doesn’t want to take that from her.

Barry walks over to her, his hand falling to her back. She looks up at him with a smile before her eyes trace back to the tank full of different kinds of jellyfish. “Did you know that Moon Jellyfish can shrink to one tenth of their original size to save energy when there’s no food available?” She asks, a soft smile to her lips. “They redevelop to normal size when they find it.”

“I didn’t know that.” He says, watching as the jellyfish glide effortlessly in the tank in front of them, creatures he could hardly believe were even alive there was so little to them.

Caitlin hums, turns to look at Barry instead of the tank. “My grandfather was an Animal Planet buff,” She smirks, her eyes washing over him to notice the tightness of his body, the strained lines of his smile. “We have to go don’t we.” It’s not a question.

“I’m sorry, there’s an emergency in Central city.” She can hear the regret in his voice and Caitlin quickly shakes her head before placing her hand on his arm, which only encourages him to continue. “We can always come back, whenever you want.”

“No, it’s okay.” She smiles, reaching up on her toes to press a light kiss to his lips. His arms wrap around her tightly, molding her to his chest. “I understand. You know, it’s important to be a good superhero.” She teases. “Punctuality and all.”

Barry smiles, dipping his chin until his nose brushes against hers in a gentle Eskimo kiss. He specifically makes sure that he waits until Caitlin sees the rest of the jellyfish tank and sharks before he picks her up in his arms and runs them back to STAR labs and reality.

\--

Caitlin is in need of a scalding hot shower the minute she walks through her apartment door. Working hand in hand with Cisco and Barry on dealing with the latest metahuman never usually bothers her. It actually has the opposite effect; there’s a sudden thrill, a bubbling warmth in her veins over doing the _right_ thing, of making a difference) but this last case with the guy who could control bugs, who Cisco had cleverly called _Lord of the Flies_ is still making her skin feel like it’s crawling.

Spiders and beetles and earth worms; she shudders, setting her coat down on the chair right inside her bedroom door and toes off her heels. Shower, tea, bed. In that exact order.

She pauses on her way to the bathroom, a stuffed animal in the middle of her pillows against the headboard drawing her attention. A smile gently tugs the ends of her mouth as she wanders over to the bedspread, her fingers brushing along a stuffed otter. She picks it up, smirking a little as she flicks the tag that says it was bought at the Pittsburgh Zoo.

A note flutters off of the animal, tucked under its arm.

_You’re right, it is important to be a good superhero._   
_But so is being a good boyfriend._   
_xo Barry_

Caitlin sleeps with the otter pressed against her chest until Barry slides into bed and takes its place.

000

The third date is not really a date at all; unless you count Barry and Caitlin going to a movie (The new _Avengers_ film, obviously) and ending up back at her place barely making it through the front door because they can’t keep their hands off of one another.

Barry presses her against the doorframe of her front door, Caitlin throwing her purse aside along with her keys, giggling into his mouth as her heel trips on a rug. Barry doesn’t stop kissing her, smirking along her lips, arm wrapping around her waist and lifting her so that her legs can wrap around his skinny waist.

He manages to close the door, his hands working up and under Caitlin’s blouse to feel the smooth, warm skin of her back. Barry’s shirt disappears with her help, his jeans following a few moments later in jerky, uneven movements.

“I just don’t get it.” She says after a moment, between kisses and panted breaths.

“Hmm?” Barry hums, distracted. He carries her to bed and lies her down, putting a pillow over the otter that sits on her bed because it’s beady eyes keep reflecting their movements. He kisses her neck, fingers working the buttons on her blouse.

She moans softly, rocking up into him, pulling him down flush between her legs until his pelvis touches heat. “The…” Caitlin bites down on her lower lip, her blouse finally open, Barry’s lips working smooth and pressured kisses against her skin. He leaves marks. “…gamma rays. They wouldn’t actually do that—to Banner.”

Barry pauses, can’t help it, the action is so sudden that he nearly does a double take instead of working his hands underneath Caitlin’s body to take her bra off. Which he _really_ wishes he was doing but he can’t help but pull back and look at her.

“Are you…are we seriously having a conversation about the _Avengers_ right _now?”_

Caitlin’s breathing is still irregular, her skin pink, legs squeezing his waist. She chews on her lower lip, the innocent action causing his cock to twitch against the inseam of his boxer briefs. A low moan surfaces from his throat and she smiles softly, like she knows exactly what she’s doing.

“I’m just saying…I liked the movie and everything.” She sits up, her blouse falling off of her shoulders, her hair brushing seamlessly over her shoulder blades. “I just find that scientific aspect really hard to believe.”

_Speaking of hard,_ Barry inwardly comments wryly with a slight roll of his eyes. “Are you kidding? You, me and Cisco work in an abandoned laboratory and combat metahumans with inhuman powers every day. I’m the _Flash,_ I really don’t think we exactly have the right to claim what’s possible and impossible, Dr. Snow.”

He presses a kiss to her nose with a teasing smile, making the edges of her lips twitch up. His hands wrap around the sides of her waist, pressing her back onto the bed but not before he undoes the button on her pencil skirt and slowly slides the zipper down. He moves back a little, just enough so he can take her skirt completely off, his thumb hooking under the lacy elastic of her underwear near her right hip.  

“And you can’t accept that a gamma ray mistake made Bruce Banner into the Hulk? For shame.”

She grins up at him, her legs opening a little to accommodate Barry’s lanky form as he leans down and starts kissing the inside of her thighs. Her hips grind forward, her body starting to quiver, his lips are so close—so, so _close—_ her entire being aches with wanting him to touch her. She needs more, _more—_

And then her phone rings.

“ _No.”_  It comes out as a breathy moan, Barry leaning up to reach for home phone which is practically buzzing off the hook. He sits back away from her body, bringing the receiver up to his ear.

“Yeah?” His voice is gruff, a soft blush kissing his cheeks as Cisco stumbles through his greeting, _obviously_ realizing he’s interrupted something important if Barry is answering Caitlin’s house phone in the middle of the night.

“Uh, metahuman. Joe just called in with a crime scene, said he couldn’t get a hold of you.” Caitlin leans up in bed, pressing soft kisses to Barry’s neck, thoroughly distracting him and leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

“Is it serious?” He asks, turning his head to press his nose and lips into Caitlin’s hair, breathing in the warm scent he usually associates with her. A mix of sunflowers and honeysuckle.

“I’d call a guy who can boil someone’s blood just by looking at them serious.” He comments dryly but there’s a sudden amused edge to his voice as he says, “You think Fahrenheit would be a good nickname for him?” Barry doesn’t respond, smiling a little as Caitlin’s hand rakes down the front of his chest, her nails brushing over sensitive skin. “Man, what will we run into next? Where are all the harmless metahumans? You know, the ones that were caught in flower shops when the particle accelerator hit and can turn objects into flowers or something.”

A gasp rakes up Barry’s throat as Caitlin slides her hand into his boxer briefs, fingers wrapping around his cock. He tries to cover the noise with a laugh, a dark red blush blotching his cheekbones. “Those are called wood nymphs, Cisco.” He manages to get out. “Have Joe text me the address, be there in a jiff, bye.”

He throws the phone aside, not even bothering to hang it up, his hand cupping Caitlin’s face and kissing her deeply. She falls onto his waist, her legs straddling his lap, their bodies rocking together and pressing against all the right places.

“I have to go.” He says after a few moments, his voice pained, the absence of one another unwanted. She groans a little, _unhappy_ at the fact that he’s leaving her, especially like this. Barry chuckles a little, the sound teasing. “This is what you get for discussing Bruce Banner for ten minutes.”

Caitlin’s hands come down onto his shoulders, squeezing, moaning into his mouth with an amused smile. “Come on Barry, I know you more than anyone can accomplish a quickie.”

Barry just grins and rolls her over onto the bed.

000

As hard as he tries, dates keep getting interrupted. One way or another something always comes up. Most of the time it’s Flash business and he can’t ignore the job he’s promised himself to because he wants a few days, a few hours, a few _minutes_ of normalcy. Other times it’s a run-of-the-mill case at the CCPD where they need his expertise, or Iris arranges family nights with Joe, or Caitlin just wants to spend the night in with him.

After the tenth dating attempt is ruined by a metahuman that can turn into tar (he’s considering calling the _Twilight Zone_ because these cases just keep getting weirder) he walks back into Caitlin’s apartment, his clothes and skin marred with black gooey substance stains, and considers throwing in the towel.

“Here,” Barry says gently as Caitlin’s shirt sticks to her hair. The metahuman had managed to catch them all off guard, turning into a wall of hot tar and spraying over the three of them, Cisco included. She has a few burns on her skin but luckily her clothes had managed to sustain most of the damage. He helps her pull the material up and over her head, a shower in their direct future as the water heats up in the background of the bathroom.

“Thank you.” She smiles, throwing her blouse into the trash can. “I feel like we should get some sort of worker’s comp for the amount of clothes I’ve had ruined.”

He smirks softly, stepping up behind her. His hands settle on her shoulders, trailing down her arms. Barry presses a kiss to the back of her shoulder where an ugly red mark thanks to the tar and unzips her skirt.

“Date number nine ruined.” He states.

She winces. “I think that was ten.”

He sighs, pulling away, pinching the bridge of his nose before he pulls his shirt off over his head. “Maybe we should just…stop trying to go out on these dates,” Caitlin turns her head to look at him, throwing her skirt in the trash. She can hear the discouragement in his voice, she doesn’t like the sound of it at all. “Obviously it’s not working out.”

It’s so unlike Barry to sound crushed, worn down, finished. No matter what puts itself in his path, he always finds a way to make it through, to _push_ until he can’t anymore. To outrun what’s chasing him. But not right now; now he sounds like he’s giving up. She knows that these dates didn’t really mean as much to her as they did to Barry, but the last thing she wants is for him to feel defeated over something he couldn’t quite control.

She swallows and comes up behind him, wrapping her arms around his slender waist. Caitlin presses kisses along his spine, pushing herself up on her toes to plant one on his shoulder, his jawline.

“It’s okay, you know.” Caitlin says, giving him a smile as he turns his head to look over his shoulder at her. He presses a kiss to her mouth, it’s mostly his lips pillowing her upper one but she smiles into it nonetheless.

“Yeah,” Barry nods quietly, pulls back from her to run his hand through her hair. He kisses the tip of her nose, moving to take the rest of his clothes off and step in the shower.

Caitlin watches him, hesitating for a moment as the curtain is pulled closed. Steam rises up and out of the shower and fills the room, fogging the mirror. She finds herself watching the shadow of his body through her cream colored shower curtain, a half-formed idea filling her mind.

“Hey, you coming in?” Barry asks after a moment, jarring her out of her thoughts. She looks up to see him poke his head out of the shower curtain, his hair wet and a little bit plastered to his forehead.

She nods quickly, discarding the rest of her clothes before slipping inside her shower, allowing Barry to pull her close under the stream of water.

000

Caitlin loves summer nights. She’s partial to snow regardless to the fact that she hates being cold, that winter is harsh and sometimes cruel and that no matter how many scarves, sweaters or coats she wraps around herself she still feels frigid. But summer nights are okay with her; she loves being able to step outside, her toes wriggling in the grass, where the air is warm and crickets sing.

That’s one of the reasons she decides to wake Barry up at midnight, a gently formed plan that she’s thought about for a while. It’s not a lot but it’s something.

“Barry.” She whispers, running her hand through his tousled hair as he sleeps in his bed. He stirs softly, turning towards her hand, blinking up at her confused when he finally manages to open his eyes.

“Hmmph?” He leans up a little and waits until his eyes adjust on Caitlin before a line crinkles between his eyebrows. “Cait?” Barry’s voice is rough with sleep, concern popping through his tone after she settles her hand on his arm. “What’s wrong, are you okay?”

She lets out a light laugh. “I’m fine, turn off your superhero blinkers for a moment.” He rolls his eyes and leans against the headboard, covering his mouth as he yawns. “I want to show you something.”

He gives her a strange look after a moment, like she might have sprouted another head to resemble a metahuman. Barry glances to his left at his clock on his nightstand. “At midnight?”

Caitlin huffs, pulling the covers back as she stands. Barry makes a strangled noise that sounds like she did some sort of physical pain to him by removing the blankets. “Please?”

She only has to ask once.

\--

It’s a short drive, twenty minutes, Caitlin pulls into the parking lot and turns her car off. She pockets her keys, looking over at Barry with a small smirk. He looks completely bewildered, even with the blindfold on.

“Give me a few minutes?” She asks, wanting to set a few things up outside.

“I can’t believe you drove us to wherever we’re going.” He says after a moment. “…in the middle of the night. Are you planning on killing me and burying me in the woods somewhere?”

Caitlin laughs, unbuckling her seatbelt. “You’re lucky you’re cute because you’re ridiculous.”

“Cute and a good kisser, hmm?” Barry teases, giving her a grin. She rolls her eyes. “You know, I could have gotten us here in ten seconds.”

“Well then it wouldn’t exactly be a _surprise,_ now would it.” She tugs a little on the blindfold before opening her car door. “I’ll be right back.”

She quickly takes a few things out of her trunk which consists of a picnic basket and a few candles, setting everything up before returning to Barry who is getting out of the car.

“I could have tried running with a blindfold on.” Barry jokes, continuing their conversation that they were having before.

She giggles, putting her hands on the back of his arms, gently urging him forward. “Right, you’re clumsy enough as it is. Just walk, we’re almost there.”

Barry sighs good naturedly, stopping the moment Caitlin squeezes his arms. There’s a moment of silence before she tugs the blindfold away, standing next to him with a small smile on her face. The first thing he notices is that they’re in a park, the area around them lit up from the luminesce of the moon and the gentle orange sparks of candles speckled in the grass. There’s a blanket down in front of a swing set, a picnic basket lid pried open by a bottle of wine.

 “Is this…” Barry looks over at her, a bit confused.

Caitlin answers with a bright smile making his heart flutter definitively in his chest. “A date?” She dips her chin a little. “Yes. Or well, as long as you don’t mind sitting in the park at midnight for a picnic?” She laughs, moving to sit on one of the swings. “We’ll be fine I’m sure, I’ve heard this city is watched over by a guy who dresses up in red spandex and runs really fast.”

Barry grins, stepping over a candle to where she is, the swings creaking noisily under her weight. “That guy sounds like a dork.”

She smirks, looking up at him with an amused nose scrunch and then shrugs her shoulder. “He’s alright.”

He laughs warmly, moving to stand behind her. His hands fall onto the metal chains of the swing, pulling them back before pressing her forward by settling his palms on her back. Barry does this a few more times, creating a swinging rhythm. Wind blows her hair over her shoulder, wafts of her shampoo brushing towards his face. A content humming noise leaves her mouth, her feet lifting up to create a more smoothing motion.

They’re quiet but it’s completely comfortable, shared breathing and heartbeats, summer breeze mixed with night noises.

“My mom would have really liked you.” Barry says after a moment, a warmth traveling down her spine and settling low in her belly as she listens to his words. “I wish…I wish you could have met her.”

Caitlin sets her feet down, the swinging motion stopping. She gently reaches around her and grabs his wrist as she stands, her thumbs working patterns onto his skin, along the tree of light blue veins there.

“Me too.” She’s even shorter without heels on, at least a head and a half space between them. Caitlin settles her hands on his chest, can feel the warmth of his skin through the light material of his t-shirt. “I know this date isn’t exactly…what you wanted but,” She takes his hand and guides him over to the blanket spread out before them.

Barry sits first, tugging on Caitlin’s hand until she settles between his legs, her back against his chest. He kisses her shoulder as she opens the picnic basket and takes the wine out along with an assortment of fruit, chocolate and caramel dip.

“It’s a date as long as we’re together and happy, right?”

He smiles softly, squeezing her around her waist before tilting her head to the side so his lips can find hers. The thing is, she’s right, and he has no idea how he missed something so simple before. Barry guesses he just wanted everything to be…perfect. He just needed to realize that as long as he has Caitlin? Things _are_ as perfect as they can possibly be.

The rest of the night is void of interruptions; except when Barry presses Caitlin back into the grass and kisses her until she’s laughing into his mouth.


End file.
